The Truth About Rod Hood

I'm not sold long term on Hood or Harper, but here are a few observations:

1. Harper played some early games without Finnegan on the other side...that played a role.
2. The first few games we were dealing with a brand new coordinator and the entire defense looked like they were rookies at times.
3. Hood has played (with a completely healthy secondary) offensive powerhouses such as: Jacksonville, San Francisco, and Buffalo. Who says Hood wouldn't have gotten burned by Andre Johnson at least once? Even Finnegan got torched a few times by T.O.- the best cover corners do get beat in the NFL at times.

The entire secondary puts me on edge at times, and I know this weekend will be no different.

 

Some times it takes players being cut a few times to to find the right team. No body is saying he is absolutely amazing, he is just better than what we had before.

 

I won't knock Harper just to knock him, but the guy just can't cover the deep ball. He plays the receiver and NEVER the ball.

He could have so many picks if he had the awareness to keep up with the ball. That is what reminds me of Reynaldo Hill in Harper. They don't play the ball. Hood plays the ball.

Neither of the 2 are shut-down guys, but they both lack what the other does well. Harper tackles really well, but can't cover. Hood covers really well, but can't tackle. They need to get to together and help each other out. It was nice to see Hood picking Harper's brain on the sidelines. Shows me that he really is a good guy and good teammate.

 

The truth about MOST of our players on D is, they're all bad at tackling. My assumption is, they go for the big play more than just wrapping the guy up and it gives them big plays.

They bite on play actions and are seldom to wrap up ballcarriers. Probably because they're going for a strip in 1 on 1 situations. Not the smartest way to defend.

I'm on the Rod Hood bandwagon. Not because it IS a bandwagon, but because I feel he earned the right with better overall play. Rod's not special. Neither is Harper. I think both need to be replaced if we can find a good corner, but this thread is useless when Harper is guilty of the same crap and not much redemption to make up for it.

 

I get that your not sold on Hood, but you say that (see above) like the man fell from the sky into our laps. He's been around, and on 2 Super Bowl teams. So he knows football, and one thing that will get you noticed in this league is being around the ball. Your right that he's an average tackler, but remember corners for the most part all suck at tackling. It isn't their strength, and if tackling is a corners best asset then he shouldn't be a corner. Maybe Harper should be a safety, because the fact your neglecting to mention is that Hood is faster than Harper by multiple strides. And the one and only thing we all here hate about Harper is that because he's slow he accommodates for it by giving up instant yards. Play 10 yards off the receiver and your basically begging he take 7 and any yards after the catch. We've seen where that puts you (no wins) and injured. My reasoning for preferring Hood over Harper is that he can make up yards on plays he's beaten on. Once you pass Harper you've almost scored, not so true with Hood.

All the things you mention may be true about Hood, but what does that say about Harper if we all prefer Hood?

Just before Hood's first game with us, I thought he could get 5 INT's in 10 games. I didn't just make that up for fun, I honestly see things in his game that make me feel he can do it. In the Texans game there were 2 or 3 plays Harper missed at deflecting the ball. Hood may have picked them off for 6.

 

that video is the biggest load of propaganda i've seen not on fox news in a long time.

you showed the same plays multiple times. four other players missed tackles on MJD on both runs. the personal foul was actually on griffin for grabbing the opening of the helmet, not hood, the official said the wrong number.

rod hood is better in coverage than nick harper is, plain and simple. harper doesn't have the hips, speed or quickness to play on the outside anymore, but hey, at least he can tackle!

 

Harper is clearly better...thats why he played and Hood didn't....the TD was a mental error on harper, no one presses Andre Johnson at the line.

Obviously Harper's weakness is the deep ball, but other then that hes a solid corner and an excellent tackler.

 

Nick Harper endorses this video...